McCain says Hillary Clinton would win presidency if election were now

Hillary Clinton and John McCain attend the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in 2007. (File photo by Gerald Herbert, AP)

Corrections and clarifications (Feb. 27, 12:55 p.m.): An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. Bachmann is a member of the U.S. House, but has announced she will not seek re-election.

Arizona Sen. John McCain says that, while she wouldn’t be his choice, if the 2016 presidential election were held tomorrow, Hillary Clinton would “most likely” win.

“Right now, if the election were tomorrow, Hillary Clinton would most likely be the president of the United States,” McCain said. He added, though, that “she wouldn’t be my candidate.” Polls have shown the former secretary of State would be the front-runner should she decide to seek the Democratic nomination in 2016. Clinton, of course, lost a tight battle for the nomination to Barack Obama in 2008.

Regarding Bachmann, a Republican who ran for president in 2012, McCain said of her remarks that “it’s a free country” but adding later he has “a very different reading of the American political scene.”